Let's Build Resiliency from the Roots Up
🌲 The Plant Cunning Conference is a 3-day in-person event featuring speakers, workshops, plant walks, artists, and live music to build community and resiliency with people wise to the ways of Nature at the beautiful Cohosh Creek Herb Farm and Sanctuary in Central New York.
This website is actively being updated at the moment, so save the date for next July 24-26th in 2026.
2026 Conference Featuring
The speakers at the 2026 Plant Cunning Conference are some of the most inspiring thought leaders, authors, herbalist, astrologers and gardeners of our time. We have plant walks, fungi walks, hands on workshops and lectures. Our key-note speaker is, herbalist, author, artist and Druid- Dana O'Driscoll of a The Druids Garden. We are honored to have 7Song of the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine and Kate Gilday of Woodland Essence, as well as many others- check out the list.
Dana O'Driscoll
Dana O’Driscoll is a wild woman of the Allegheny mountains, hanging out with mushrooms, swimming in forest streams, and getting covered in soil. Sheis the co-founder of the Pennsylvania School of Herbalism (www.paherbschool.com), an herbal school focusing teaching holistic herbalism and regional healing plants with a strong emphasis in reciprocation and stewardship. Dana has been an animist druid for 20 years, and currently serves as Grand Archdruid in the Ancient Order of Druids in America (aoda.org). She is also a druid-grade member of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids and is the OBOD’s 2018 Mount Haemus Scholar. She is the author of numerous nature spirituality books including EcoSpirituality in the 21st Century, Land Healing, and Sacred Actions: Living the Wheel of the Year through Earth-Centered Spiritual Practices. She is also a whimsical nature artist and is the author/illustrator of the Tarot of Trees, Plant Spirit Oracle, and TreeLore Oracle and Magical Compendium of Eastern North American Trees. Dana is a certified permaculture designer and permaculture teacher who works to live regeneratively and heal the land. Dana lives at a 5-acre homestead in rural western Pennsylvania with her partner and a host of feathered and furred friends. She writes at the Druids Garden (www.thedruidsgarden.com) and is on Instagram as @druidsgardenart.
7Song
The story of 7Song's birth remains a mystery. He was 'found' one day hitchhiking on a New York State turnpike with a sign saying, "My name is 7Song, please teach me how to be an herbalist." The language he spoke was indecipherable but seemed to be a cobbled mix of Latin and Greek botanical names (which led to speculation that he likely was tutored by some type of botanist, though this was never proven).
Coincidentally, the first person to pick him up was a retired ethnobotanist on a field trip to find the origins of Sassafras. From there, they eventually reached the mountains of Chimborazo in Ecadour, where 7Song spent the next 7 years living in a hollowed-out tree, absorbing all he could from his surroundings.
Afterward, he traveled the hippie circuit, learning all he could about herbal medicine and making beaded crystal necklaces.
Since then, he has made it his mission to help others learn the value of herbal medicine (but let the necklaces go, as they kept breaking while he was wildcrafting).
Amelia South
Amelia South is a Practicing Herbalist, Foraging Instructor, Gut Health Specialist,and Subconscious Reprogramming Coach from Connecticut. She healed her own candida and rosacea and was trained in how to heal her inner child and rewire her negative subconscious beliefs after a severe mental breakdown in 2021. She now helps others through her books Think Like an Herbalist and Uncovering Amy as well as private coaching and speaking engagements.
Her class for the conference is, The Gut–Brain Connection & Disorders of the Mind: Addressing the Root Cause. The gut and brain are not separate systems—they are partners in shaping our thoughts, emotions, and overall mental health. In this talk, we’ll explore how imbalances in the gut microbiome can drive anxiety, depression, brain fog, and IBS. We’ll cover practical nutritional and herbal tools for gut healing, while also examining why true mental and emotional healing often stalls when we ignore subconscious beliefs and learned behavioral patterns. When we address both the gut and the inner landscape, real and lasting change becomes possible.
Lisa Fazio
Lisa Fazio is an Irish/Italian American folkloric witch, heretic, herbalist, astrologer, and una donna che aiutana (one who helps). Her primary focus is ancestral revival and remembrance within the Italian American diaspora. She practices the Folk Catholic and animistic traditions of her Italian ancestors who were the original people of Calabria; the Brutti people, and Benevento; the Samnite people. She is a mother of 4 children and Nonna to 2 grandchildren. She is the author of the forthcoming book “Della Medicina: The Traditions of Italian American Folk Healing” to be released October 2024.
Kate Gilday
Cherished herbalist elder, teacher, plant steward, practitioner and creator of the incredibly high quality and extensive product line, Herbal Essences, Kate Gilday is an inspiration and expert in her field. Kate weaves her experiences as a clinical herbalist with her past Ayurvedic training at Kripalu into crafting the formulas Woodland Essence is known for. They offer Herbal Extracts, Cremes, Salves handcrafted with love in small batches along with a line of Forest Flower Essences of the Northeast that hold the vibration of the Forest, along with the individual nature of each tree, shrub, and forest flower shared. We are honored to have her back at the Plant Cunning Conference to teach an interactive class on how to make Flower Essences with intention.
Tammi Sweet
Tammi Sweet loves to teach. It’s her superpower. She has a magical ability to connect with almost anyone when teaching and help them understand complex material. For over 35 years, Tammi has shared her gift of teaching at various colleges, massage schools and herbal schools throughout the country. Her background in physiology makes her an invaluable resource to developing herbalists and massage therapists alike, who want to deepen their foundation as practitioners. In addition to her physiology expertise, Tammi is also a practitioner and teacher of herbal medicine. In 2007, she and her partner Kris Miller launched the Heartstone Center for Earth Essentials. At Heartstone, Tammi and Kris run their Herbal Apprenticeship. Tammi also offers online courses that integrate physiology and plant medicine with Tammi’s love of teaching, such as her signature course Anatomy & Physiology for Herbalists.
Tere Marie
Tere (Pronounced TREE) is an organic farmer, plant keeper, holistic reproductive health educator, astrologer, folk herbalist, and somatic embodiment muse. She's insanely passionate about helping women and folx liberate themselves into their most delicious, deeply satisfying, purpose filled lives. She helps people find eroticism, magick and mystery in the mundane. She frames this work through the wisdom of archetypal cycles, or, what she calls the 4 P’s: Planets, Plants, Pussy and Personal Agency. She's been a space holder and circle facilitator for close to 15 years, a decade, as a doula, somatic movement facilitator, holistic reproductive health practitioner, astrologer, and ceremonialist. In addition to hosting “The Garden:Pleasure as the Path”, Tere and her partner, Jamie, will be vending plants grown from seed on Wyllie Fox Farm, their Organic farm based in Cato, NY.
Gert Coleman
Herbal educator, writer, gardener, editor, and herb enthusiast, Gert Coleman loves, grows, eats, and reads avidly about herbs. Retired professor of English, she lives on 100+ acres in Central New York, growing herbs, flowers, trees, and at-risk native plants with her husband and dog. As an herbal educator, she has taught humorous and informative programs for all ages at parks, museums, and conferences; helped maintain a 70' x 70' colonial herb garden for 3 decades; apprenticed with Rosemary Gladstar; compiled and edited five Herb of the Year™ books; and writes about the legends, lore, and poetry of herbs. In addition, she teaches workshops on nature writing in the wild places of New York and beyond.
Olga Tzogas
Olga has been foraging mushrooms and plants for food and medicine for many years, and started Rochester, NY based Smugtown Mushrooms in 2011 offering up fresh fungi, extracts, educational events, & fungi tours. Smugtown offers mushroom grow kits, high quality mushroom extracts, dried mushrooms, books, and more. Olga offers engaging classes like cooking classes with mushrooms and fungi walks to bring the love of mushrooms to the people. She's the instigator of the New Moon Mycology Summit . Olga also leads small groups of earth lovers to her homeland of Greece in the Fall seasons to forage mushrooms, herbs and learn the sacred ecology of the Eastern Mediterraean.
Isaac Hill
Isaac is an astrologer, esotericist, and co-host of the Plant Cunning Podcast. He studies and practices in the Acyutananda Das tradition of Vedic astrology with his teachers Freedom Cole and Pandit Sanjay Rath, and has also studied traditional Western astrology with Chris Warnock.
He is a permaculturist with over a decade of experience gardening and cultivating a native plant nursery, receiving his Permaculture Design Certificate in 2012 with Darrell Frey. He's the primary gardener and grounds keeper of Cohosh Creek Herb Farm where he's planted hundreds of fruit & nut trees, shrubs, blueberries, perennial vegetables, native plants, greens, flowers, medicinal herbs and fungi and some veggies.
He has written "The Heathen Golden Dawn: A Complete Course in Ceremonial Magic", and "The Zodiac Garden Guide: A Handbook of Astrological Gardening".
He's also a song writer, singer, and musician, leading in the Hills and the Rivers.
Isaac will lead a garden tour for one the plant walk sessions to discuss some of the garden design elements as well as highlighting some of the incredible plants he nurtures at the farm.
Alexandra Wendt
Alexandra Wendt has a private practice called, The Flora Grimoire and offers her gifts as a professional Astrologer, Earth Medicine Person, Ecstatic Dance teacher, and Psychic Herbalist. She is also a Clairvoyant voice reader and has been singing for over 25 years. She has studied directly with Tyler Penor of the School of Living Astrology, Asia Suler of One Willow Apothecaries, Emily Hamilton of Earth Speak, and Jeffrey Boehme of the Spiritual Science Society. She works as a medicinal herb farmer at Healing Spirits in Avoca, NY and lives with her Visionary Arts partner, Stefan Lucas Allen and their cat, Rowley. Together they practice the Cobra Breath and support the collective with their teaching skills & creations. Alexandra will be hosting Weaving Waters Freeform Movement, freeform dance space that incorporates Ecstatic Dance & vocal opening, on Friday evening in the Big Barn. Feel free to approach her at The Flora Grimoire vending tent at the conference or on Instagram for inquiries about session work. Learn more about Alexandra through her Instagram page, @thefloragrimoire and through @waxingwaters where she co-host dances with Liv Sun.
AC Hill
AC Hill (formerly Stauble) is an herbalist, herb farmer, teacher and adventurer. She grows herbs and creates small batch, high quality remedies to offer her community and sells at the Cooperstown NY Farmers Market under the name Traveling Herb Farmer. She's passionate about sharing her herbs and the things she's learned along the way. Teaching workshops locally in Central NY and also conducting online classes. She's the co-director of the Actaea Institute of Herbal Medicine and Aromatherapy, with Gabriel Mojay, which offers short online classes, a monthly guest lecture series featuring inspiring experts in herbal medicine, and a full Diploma Program in Herbal Medicine and Aromatherapy. The Diploma students meet online for live, and lively, interactive classes each Sunday for 8 months. The Actaea Institute Herb Camp is a 4 day in-person intensive to practice skills like medicine making, distillation and pulse and tongue diagnosis and much more. It's being held at AC and Isaac's Farm, Cohosh Creek (where the Plant Cunning Conference is held) two weeks after the conference, August 5-9, 2026. When AC is not in the apothecary or garden, find her in community, singing around a fire, snowboarding or on some far away adventure.
Gabriel Mojay
Gabriel began his natural healing journey in 1977 in Paris when he discovered Macrobiotics and the Yin-Yang energetics of food. Living in England, he later qualified in, practiced, and co-wrote a textbook on Shiatsu — a type of Japanese acupressure closely connected to Macrobiotics. From 1984 he spent 4 years studying traditional Chinese Acupuncture together with Chinese and Western Herbs including Essential Oils. From 1990-2020 he was Principal of the Institute of Traditional Herbal Medicine & Aromatherapy (ITHMA), London, and has given seminars in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Mexico, UK, and in the USA. He specializes in a Chinese medicine energetic-diagnostic approach to Herbalism and Essential Oils, and is author of Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit (for sale at the Conference). At the same time, he has 4 decades of experience of giving Astrological readings, and has taught an Astrological approach to Aromatherapy since 1996, both live and online. Based in California since 2022, Gabriel is Co-Director together with AC Hill of the Actaea Institute of Herbal Medicine and Aromatherapy. actaea.org
Lauren Eadline
Lauren Eadline is a consulting medical provider, clinical herbalist and plant medicine educator in Central New York. She serves as the integrative member of the Lyme & Tick Borne Disease team at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY and maintains a small medical practice in Homer, NY where she specializes in complex medical conditions, gender and reproductive care, and herbal & nutritional medicine. About 75% of her practice relates to hypermobile conditions and their comorbidities. She is also the founder and director of Syracuse Herbal Study Group, a collective in the CNY area focused on accessible education in herbal medicine, community health empowerment and mutual aid initiatives. She is a board-certified Advanced Practice Holistic Nurse (APHN), a registered member of the American Herbalist Guild and has spoken at conferences nationwide on topics in botanical medicine and complex disease. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate is SUNY Upstate and her first book, the Herbal Diagnostic Handbook, is set for publication through Storey Publishing in early 2027. Lauren lives in Homer, NY with her family. To connect with Lauren or her private practice Circles of Sage, PLLC, find her on instagram @theherbal_fnp, on her website www.earthstrongcenter.com or email her at circlesofsageny@gmail.com.
The People's Cauldron
The Kingston, NY area based People's Cauldron folks will be setting up a station at the conference to craft mutual aid support kits for the community. We are calling out to all attendees to bring any herbs, tinctures, first aid supplies, or medicine making supplies like old bottles to the conference to contribute to the kit building . The Peoples Cauldron is a not-for-profit, spiritual organization based that operates a community herbal apothecary. They provide free herbal services, including health and wellness consultations, herbal preparations, harm reduction supplies, and home medicine-making supplies to communities in need. The People’s Cauldrons’ values are deeply rooted in de-colonial praxis; biocentrism & mutual aid. They have a deep focus on rediscovering traditional relationships to plants, our planet and wellness, particularly for our BIPOC communities. They recognize that our mother earth is in crisis. All of her children are oppressed by ongoing colonization and ecocide. They understand that the systematic erasure of plant medicine traditions and forceful replacement with for-profit, industrialized medicine is a primary mechanism of oppression in marginalized communities. Locally, they're working with their communities to build spaces and support for people to reclaim these sacred plant medicine traditions. The Peoples Cauldron sees bio-regional plants as a liberatory resource that all communities should be aware of in order to build self-reliance and meaningful tradition
Schedule Snapshot
Gather in our big red barn with herbalists, farmers, astrologers, artists, musicians, community leaders to learn about the magic of plants and to deepen our connection with nature and each other.
About the Land
Cohosh Creek Herb Farm and Sanctuary is nested in the beautiful rolling hills of Central New York, high on the Allegheny Plataea on the lands of the Oneida Peoples of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. We are honored and in awe of this place's magic and abundance and know that it has been and continues to be stewarded by both humans and the spirits of place with care and dedication.
There’s a large barn & event tent for us to have sessions in. There are lovely herb gardens, young orchards and woods to explore. The vendor area is overlooking a beautiful valley and the Tillette Creek (pronounced crick of course).
We hope our guests will be able to make a long weekend of this conference to truly drop-in to the land and benefit from the peaceful beauty and healing it offers.
Cohosh Creek Herb Farm
415 County Rd 41
South Edmeston, NY
Registration & Pricing
There are scholarships and volunteer tickets available if money is a barrier to coming, please email us at info@plantcunning.com to work something out.
We want you here!
I'll Take it All
$435
Everything included from Thursday evening camp set up to Sunday closing, the tea bar, all sessions and activities, and even the nourishing meal plan of 6 meals throughout the conference.
Adult Ticket Price
$325
This is the standalone ticket price of the conference which includes all sessions Friday through Sunday, the live music show Saturday, and access to the tea bar all weekend. You can bring your own snacks and meals and commute or find your own local lodging.
Young Adults Age 12-18
$75
Young Adults from 12-18 can come for a reduced rate of $75.
You'll may order a meal plan if you want one for a total of $150.
Children under 11 and younger are free to attend, though you may wish to purchase a meal plan ticket for them.
Meal Plan Add-on
$85
Nourishing mostly local and organic foods prepared for different dietary preferences (Vegan, GF, Nut Free with options for meat & wheat eaters too). Friday dinner, Saturday Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Sunday Breakfast & Lunch Included. Tea bar will be open all weekend and accoutrements bar available for toppings to each delicious meal.
Camping Add-on
$25
Access to grounds Thursday night to set up camp and stay in your tent or vehicle for the weekend. Each adult camping should get a camping pass. Families camping with kids under 18 don’t have to get a pass for each kid, just the adults. We have water fill up, portapotties on site, a camp shower, and plenty of shady wooded spots or field spots.
Volunteer / Work Trade
$85
Join the Work-Trade Crew
One of the most enriching ways to be at PCC is to join the crew making it all happen. We ask for 6 hours of your time over the weekend. If you're interested in being a part of the Work-Trade/Volunteer Team please email us at info@plantcunning.com.
Saturday Only Ticket
$175
Includes Saturday Lunch, Dinner, & Music. This ticket is for locals or folks who can only make it for a day trip. Join us on Saturday morning starting at 9:30am. Enjoy the the workshops, lectures and plant walks all day, as well as the music. Your lunch and dinner will be included in this ticket (not breakfast).
Camping is not included.
Vending Add On
$45
Join the vendor alley! Each vendor & any assistants will need to purchase their own ticket & meal plan, but camping is free to vendors. If you're vendor app is approved we will invoice you $45 for the vendor fee. Apply here.
